Loved You Once
by a-true-literati
Summary: She didn't know what she was doing. How did this happen? This was what she had come here for, but she didn't expect to feel...this. She wasn't quite sure what it was exactly, all she knew was that it felt...right. Something she hadn't felt in a long time.
1. Prologue

**A/N: My first chapter(or prologue, or whatever you want to call it) of my first story! I've kind of been toying with this idea for a long time, and I've had this chapter(or prologue or whatever) done for a while now, but I was trying to find the courage to post it. After PMing with ICanSeeYourFace on here for the past couple days, I finally found it, so a big thanks to her :) Anyway, here it is, and I apologize in advance if it sucks. I'm not that experienced on writing fanfiction other than stuff for school which I have to tell you is really boring, and I am certainly not a fan. Anyway, getting back to the point, here it is. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: Let's see... a pair of fuzzy socks, a blue picture frame, a green desk lamp, a hand mirror... Oh, they were talking about what I own in regards to the characters and the show? Ah, gotcha. I'm following you now. Nope, sorry. I don't own any of it.**

**PS: Certain events in the show's already laid out story line will be deleted or switched to go with the story line I created, it just works better that way. I don't really plan on having many events from the show in my story except in the beginning to set the scene and set up stuff for the major change I'm making. After that, everything is pretty much coming from the depths of my mind... Oh, and everything before my fic begins, which is episode 1x1 to episode 6x17, has occurred, and has changed in no way, shape, or form. As for the POV of this story, for the first chapter(AKA this chapter) and the last chapter(if i ever get that far. fingers crossed!), it's narrator view, but I'm planning on having the rest of them in Rory's POV. Jess' POV seems like more fun to write from, but for this story I think Rory's will work best.  
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**PSS: Sorry for the long A/N, I promise not to make it a habit... Okay, that's a lie. I have a tendency to talk a lot and over share, so I would get used to fairly long A/N's. However, you can just skip over them if you feel the need to. Chances are that I won't write anything important in them anyway.**

* * *

"Go with them if you want," she said, nodding her head towards the door of their apartment.

Logan ignored her suggestion. "Is it your life's mission to embarrass me at every opportunity?"

Rory scoffed at her boyfriend's accusing words. "It's Robert, Colin and Finn, Logan. I've seen them all dance naked with their underwear on their heads. There's no embarrassing you in front of them."

"Well, you embarrassed me tonight." Logan looked down, focusing on controlling his temper.

"How? By pointing out that the stunt you're planning doesn't exactly sound _safe_?"

His head snapped up at her remark. "It's called the Life and Death Brigade, Rory."

"Yeah! And you're supposed to try to avoid the _death part_."

"This is not your business! And why aren't you at the paper? You're always at the paper at this time of night."

"I finished early," she stated sharply, unsure of why she needed to explain herself to him.

"How? You delegate a little? Let people actually write their own articles?"

Rory blew off his weak attempt of trying to get to her. "That's old news."

"It's not old news! You knew that would embarrass me and you didn't care!"

"Please!"

That was it. He'd had it with her. "Even when we're together, you're someplace else. You leave and you don't kiss me goodbye. We're at dinner and you're on your cell phone the whole time! You never leave notes anymore about where you're going to be so I have no idea where you are! You haven't forgiven me."

"What are you talking about?"

"For the girls I was with when we were separated."

"I said I forgive you!" she exclaimed, finally expressing how frustrated she was with this conversation. She was tired of talking about it with him. She was tired of talking about it in general.

"Yeah! You said it! But you haven't, though. You haven't."

Rory gave Logan a foul look. She knew he was right, but she wouldn't let him know that. How dare he doubt her word. How dare he doubt _her_.

Logan grabbed his jacket off the rack by the entrance to the apartment. "I'll be at the pub."

She watched him walk out without a backwards glance. She was frozen in place for what seemed like an infinite amount of time, just staring at the door that he had exited through. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was shaking violently, and a few more to notice the moisture that was steadily flowing down her face. A soft moan escaped her lips as she realized the full intensity of what had just happened, and began to sob.

Rory stood there crying for a short time before sinking down to the floor. This kind of all-consuming crying was probably better relieved in a bed. There, she could scream and cry without alerting the neighbors, her voice muffled by pillows. She considered going to their bedroom to make herself more comfortable on the big soft mattress while she cried, but the bed itself smelled of his soap, his shampoo, his cologne… it smelled of _him_. That was more than she wanted to deal with right now. More than she _could_ deal with.

She wasn't sure exactly why she was crying. Was she angry or sad? And more importantly, were those emotions directed at him or at her? She honestly couldn't tell.

They'd had fights before. They'd actually had one similar to this one. She wondered why it made a difference this time around. Honestly, as far as his "actions" went, this wasn't nearly as bad as what had occurred when they had first started dating. Rory remembered going to his dorm, dead set on telling him that she didn't want to be "one of the many" anymore, that they should just go back to being friends. Instead, he decided to commit. She was even more shocked at his decision than he was. She had doubted he could do it, but he had promised her that he would because he didn't want to lose her.

Maybe that was it. Maybe this hurt so much because he'd sacrificed his lifestyle, the only one he had ever known, to be with her, and then after one fight, he called it quits. Maybe she figured that he had changed his mind about the whole commitment thing. Maybe he regretted it. Maybe she regretted it, too. Maybe he realized how stupid he was for trying to commit to her and trying to change who he was. Maybe she thought she was even stupider for believing he could commit to her and trying to change him. But she wasn't exactly sure what she was thinking. She was too overcome with the tears that were consuming her mind and her heart. The sobbing shook her uncontrollably for a good while, and when she was finally able to control it, only one thought came to mind.

_Mom_ she thought. _I need to call Mom. She'll know what to do. She always knows what to do. She'll help me get through this. _Rory reached for her purse that was on the side table next to her, succeeding in her efforts to pull it into her lap. She searched through her purse, trying to find the small silver phone, but came up empty. Frustrated with the fruitlessness of her search, she dumped the contents of her handbag (the Birkin Bag that Logan had given her, though she was trying extremely hard to ignore that fact) on the floor, searching through the mess and discovering her phone almost immediately.

She opened her phone and went to the contacts page, scrolling through the names of acquaintances and schoolmates, most of which she hadn't seen or spoken to in years. _Note to self: clean out this damn contacts list._ She came to her mother's phone number, her thumb hovering over the "call" button, when out of nowhere her mother's voice filled her mind. It was the speech that Lorelai had given Rory after her disastrous dinner at the Huntzberger home that she had attended shortly after she and Logan had started their official relationship. _If he is going to bolt, maybe you should let him bolt. He told you, Rory, he told you he wasn't a commitment kind of guy…_

She snapped the phone shut, realizing that if she did call her mother, she would be in for another big helping of "I told you so", and that wasn't what she needed or wanted to hear at the moment. She slowly came to the realization that she really didn't have anyone who could help her with this. Everyone hated Logan, and even though they would put those feelings aside when comforting her, she knew what emotions would lay behind every word they would say.

She decided to head to the bedroom, reminders be damned. She couldn't possibly feel worse than she already did. What were a few reminders of him going to do? Everything reminded her of him anyway. It was his apartment, after all. She slowly gathered her possessions off of the floor, taking the time to organize them in her purse, welcoming the distraction of something to focus on. Organizing was something she enjoyed doing. It made her feel like her life was in order, and she liked how she felt knowing that even a small part of her life was perfect. She realized with a sigh that it wasn't that easy with her boyfriend.

When she was about halfway done, she came across a piece of paper amongst her other belongings, picking it up to examine it. It was a flyer for an open house addressed to her personally, one that she had completely forgotten about until that moment. Without thinking, she shoved everything that was still lying on the floor into her purse and grabbed her keys off the hook by the door.

* * *

As Rory got into her car, she pulled out the GPS from the glove compartment, entering the information needed to achieve directions, and was on the road before she could give it another thought.

* * *

**A/N: Where's she off to? Most of you that are religious watchers of the show and have seen all the episodes multiple times(like I have!) probably know where she's going. For those of you that aren't, shame on you! Your punishment is that you won't know where she's going until the next chapter. I hope you've all learned your lesson.**

**PS: I'm not sure how often I'll be updating, it all depends on school and life and stuff, so bear with me. I have a snow day today, so no school! Which means I'll probably be working on the next chapter today, maybe even the ones after that if I feel inspired enough.**

**PSS: So a friend of mine told me that reviewing is kind of important on here? I'm not sure if it's true or not, but the only way for me to find out seems to be by you guys reviewing... Coincidence? Probably not.**


	2. Right

**A/N: Hey, it's me again. I have seriously been working on this chapter all day, and I am so glad that it's finished. I had writer's slow(kind of like writer's block except you can crank out one sentence every ten minutes. honestly, I don't know which one's worse) when it came to the already existing dialogue. It's hard to put thoughts into an already existing storyline because you have to think about what the people who first wrote the lines were thinking(does that make sense?). Anyway, because I wanted this chapter over and done with, I got all the pre-existing dialogue in this chapter, so now it's out of the way. However, that makes this chapter a little longer than I'm planning for my other chapters. But, I may become over detailed for the rest of this story, so they may all be this length! I haven't really given it much thought. I'm pretty much winging it. Anyway, here's the story, and again, my apologies if it sucks. Well, here it is. Enjoy :)  
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**Disclaimer: Green eye shadow, a pink digital camera, blue fuzzy slippers, a laser pointer... Huh, still nothing from the show. Go figure.**

**PS: Thanks to Literati Network, Literatilover76640, gleekfreak (my bff!), Miia, and mmskogs for reviewing. that's pretty awesome.**

**PSS: gleekfreak, i already told you this, but i'll tell you again. saying that you don't like gilmore girls on a gilmore girls fanfiction may result in death or serious bodily harm. I say this because I care. ish. mostly it's because I'll have to clean it up, but yeah, I care...**

**PSSS: Sorry for the long A/N again, but I'd get used to it if I were you. Just saying.  
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I was driving down the highway, blasting The Clash on the stereo. I was trying so hard to block what I was doing from my head, but it managed to get through anyway. _This is wrong. I shouldn't be doing this. What am I thinking? Am I crazy? This isn't me. I am not him._

_I can't do this_, I realized, sighing. I made a move to get off at the next exit so I could turn around and head home. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, indicating that I had a text. I took it out and flipped it open, reading the small print that was on the inside, sent by Finn.

_Rory Love, don't forget to remind Logan about our trip tomorrow. The ultimate(are they sure it isn't penultimate?) Life and Death Brigade mission commences at 4:00 pm… an ungodly hour, if you ask me, but I'm outvoted. And tell him not to forget the… what was he supposed to bring? I can't remember for the life of me. Oh well, mustn't have been that important. Anyway, see you when we get back Love. In Omnia Paratus!_

I snapped the phone shut. Finn's message reminded me about how stupid and irresponsible they had been earlier in the apartment, planning their little stunt. It also reminded me of why I was doing this. I turned up the music full blast, fixed my eyes on the road, and sped up, heading back towards my original destination. Nothing was stopping me now. I had motive, adrenaline, and nothing standing in my way.

* * *

When I walked into Truncheon, I froze in the doorway. It was like heaven, or pretty damn close to it. There were rows full of books, walls full of paintings, and clumps of people scattered throughout the room, listening to people reading books and poems that they had written. It was like nothing else I had ever seen, and I immediately fell in love with it. This place was perfect, a place where people could express what they feel and be themselves. People could hang out and relax and just _breathe_. I felt a smile playing across my lips as I took it all in, and headed for the nearest bookcase.

After a couple of minutes of browsing, I remembered why I was here. I was on a mission, and the books had distracted me. After I finished reading the back cover summary of the book I was holding, I put it back in its place and strolled casually towards the other side of the room. When I was halfway across, I recognized Luke as he turned his head towards someone that was performing their poetry. He was sitting next to a young girl, someone who couldn't be any older than thirteen. They were listening to a poet reciting something about Herman Melville, rubber stamps, and Tahiti. The connection between the three was beyond me.

"Is this any good?" Luke whispers to the girl, receiving a few pointed stares from the people around him. When they all turned back to the poet, she smiled and gave him the so-so hand signal.

I continued walking and was a few feet away when I saw him come down the staircase. He was walking with another guy, someone that looked to be about our age, and the guy looked sad for some reason.

"I don't know what she's going to write," the sullen young man commented to him.

"You're not supposed to know what she's going to write. She's a member of the independent press," Jess told him, chuckling. They both walked past without noticing me, and I froze in my place.

Apparently Jess' remark hadn't deterred his thoughts. "She played it so close to the vest, you know? I hate that," he continued, rambling grumpily like a stubborn five year old.

I could tell Jess was getting annoyed. "Go get a beer, stop obsessing," Jess said turning him towards a different direction and giving him a little shove.

When Jess turned back around, he spotted me, his eyes widening. A smile broke out across his face, a genuine smile, and there was a new spark in his eye that hadn't been there a moment ago. I could tell he was surprised, but he recovered fairly quickly.

"Well, isn't this a day of surprises."

I hadn't realized how nervous I was about seeing him again. I let out the breath I'd been holding and immediately relaxed. _Same old Jess_ I thought. I shrugged and smiled, feeling the happiness from our reunion well up inside of me. I really had missed him.

Now that I could relax, I allowed myself to examine him. His body was lean and muscular, the way it always had been, and he was a little taller. His hair was styled the same way, but a little shorter. He wasn't as clean-shaven as he used to be, but the gruffness actually worked for him. His eyes were as chocolaty and deep as ever, and they looked like they could stare right through you. The smile on his face was new, but if you really knew him like I did, you could sense the smirk lying underneath it. _So different, yet the same as always_.

I closed the feet between us until we were a comfortable talking distance away from each other. I looked up into his eyes, a teasing look on my face. "I didn't RSVP. Sorry," I said with a smirk.

"Ah, this isn't an RSVP type thing. Showing up's cool," he replied, his smirk matching mine.

I chuckled at his attempt at seriousness. "Good thing," I remarked sarcastically, rolling my eyes and giving him a smile. "So this," I said, admiration evident in my voice, "is Truncheon books."

"Yeah, this is Truncheon." He glanced about him, taking in the scene going on around us. He was nervous; I could see it written all over his face.

"I like it," I reassured him. "It makes me feel like I instantly want to create something. Give me a pen, give me a brush," I exclaimed, watching as his nervousness melted away to show pride. He was proud of his life, what he had going, and I calmed down so I could be serious for a second. I was about to tell Jess how proud I was of all this, and of him, when I noticed Luke looking at an abstract painting a little ways away with the same young girl I had seen him with before.

"Luke!" I exclaimed, all seriousness evaporating into surprise. I'd forgotten that he was here.

"Yeah, there's a definite 'Jess Mariano, this is your life' vibe here today," Jess explained as we headed towards where Luke was standing.

"Hey, Luke," Jess greeted him, trying to grab his attention.

"Bicycle?" Luke questioned, motioning towards the painting he was just looking at.

"No," Jess replied with an amused smirk.

"Rory, hi. What are you doing here?" Luke asked me, shock showing in his expression.

"The same thing you're doing here."

"You're books are really easy to skim," I heard the girl sitting next to Luke say.

"Thanks. That'll make a nice blurb," Jess commented with false sincerity.

"I was going to take off, actually…" Luke directed towards Jess.

"Uh, I've got to get something. Don't leave 'till I get back, I'll just be a minute," Jess told him.

"Okay," Luke replied as Jess headed across the room.

As soon as he's gone, the girl stood up and looked at me. "You have a great face," the girl commented.

"Thanks, so do you," I replied, caught slightly off guard.

"Yeah, uh, Rory, this is April."

"Oh! April."_ April. The April. Wow._ I wasn't quite sure what to say. "Hello, there, April," I say, recovering my composure and shaking her hand.

"Hi," she said simply.

"The famous April." Okay, so maybe I hadn't quite composed myself. But this was big. _April..._ I couldn't get it through my head.

"I'm famous?" she questioned, confused.

"Kind of."

"Uh, April, Rory's an old friend," Luke said, intervening into the conversation.

"She doesn't look old," she replied, looking up at Luke.

"I mean, I've known her, well, since she was your age. She's from Stars Hollow," he explained, rambling. I could tell he was uncomfortable. "She's actually the daughter of the woman I'm with. My fiancée. Lorelai. You met her that one time- it's kind of complicated…"

"I'll say."

"You probably want to get back to that boyfriend of yours, right?" Luke asks, trying to find an easy escape from this highly uncomfortable situation.

"He's not my boyfriend," she denies, rolling her eyes at him. "Jeez."

I was watching them, observing them. They really did seem like father and daughter. I never imagined Luke like that. Protective, annoying, embarrassing… it was like he'd known her for her whole life.

"Hey, Luke," Jess said, reappearing. "Come here," he said and lead Luke away from me and April.

"So April," I start, trying to get some information on her and Luke. "How's the fieldtrip going?"

"Pretty well, I guess. We won four of our five competitions already," she said with a smile.

"That's great. Congratulations," I said, returning her smile.

"Thanks."

"So how's Luke doing so far on the trip?" I asked, genuinely curious. Luke plus a bus full of teenagers didn't add up in my head.

"He's doing alright. Still getting used to the whole 'parent-chaperone' thing."

I had to chuckle at that. It figures that Luke would need help at something like chaperoning. "So what's this I hear about a boyfriend?" I asked, a mischievous look on my face.

"Ugh. Don't remind me," she said, rolling her eyes. "Luke has been ridiculously overprotective the entire time. It's driving me insane."

"Sounds like Luke. I remember when my first boyfriend broke up with me, the next day Luke wouldn't let him step foot in the diner, and then started to fight him in the middle of the street," I said with a laugh.

"Seriously? Jeez, now I can't tell him anything about my relationships," she said, a somewhat freaked look in her eyes.

"Not necessarily," I explain. "All you have to do is that if you and a guy break up, tell Luke that you dumped him. Whether it's true or not, it's safest for all those involved. Trust me," I replied, still chuckling.

"I'll note that for future references. Not much I can do this time around though. He never leaves my side, which is making it kind of hard to hang out with Freddy."

"Freddy, huh?" I asked, giving her a knowing look.

"Yeah," she said with a smile.

"He the boyfriend?" I asked.

"No. I hope he will be soon, but as of right now, no. All I said was that I liked him, and I realized it was a mistake as soon as I said it."

"We should get going," Luke said, making his way back over to us with Jess.

"Nice meeting you," she said to me, smiling.

"Nice meeting you, too. Good luck with everything," I say, glancing at Luke and then back at her, and we both chuckle softly.

"Good luck with this, congratulations," Luke told Jess, oblivious to our innuendo.

"Thanks. See you," he replied back.

"Bye," April says as they walk towards the door.

There was a brief awkward pause after they left, until Jess spoke up. "So are you here alone?" he asked, trying to fill the silence.

"I guess," I replied, not knowing what else to say.

He gave me a soft smile, which I returned. "Cool. Come on," he said, leading me to a bookcase.

* * *

We wandered around the store for a few hours, mainly in the book sections. I seriously think we read the back of each book at least three times. When we didn't have our noses in the books, we hung out with Matt, the slightly sullen man that I had seen Jess with earlier, and Chris. They turned out to be his business partners and co-owners of Truncheon. It was the funniest thing to listen to their argument about the bar that Matt wanted to buy. They had this argument twice before Matt asked my opinion the third time around.

"Rory, what do you think about this bar? It's a good idea, right?" Matt asked me with hope in his eyes. I could see Jess and Chris searching for approval of his lunacy in my expression.

"I think," I said, pretending to ponder the idea, "that you should do a combo. Cedar Redux Devoid of Original Ideas Poser Bar. And, because I came up with the name, I want a fourth of the business," I said with a laugh.

That really got him going. "That is a great idea!" he yelled, and then turned to Jess and Chris. "See! I'm not the only one that thinks this bar is a good idea! Finally, someone else sees the light!" he yelled again, and then proceeded to do a happy dance.

"Thanks," Jess said sarcastically, glaring at me.

"Any time," I replied with a smile, trying to hold back my laughter as Chris began hitting his head against the wall.

* * *

After a while, with the number of customers dwindling, Matt and Chris went upstairs. Jess was busy showing people around and checking out customers and making sure nothing was on fire, so I grabbed a pencil and his book, _The Subsect_, out of my purse. I got comfortable in my seat and set in to read it, _again_, making more notes in the margins.

I had been reading for about an hour when Jess came over to me. "You know, you don't have to read it again," he said jokingly to me, looking at the cover and understanding what I was doing. When he saw that there were things written all over the pages, he smiled dreamily.

"I know I don't," I replied with a smile.

He smiled back at me and took the book out of my hands. "There are _so_ many things I would change in it."

"Like what?" I asked, my smile turning into a smirk.

"I'd-" he began, cutting himself off while considering my question. "keep the back cover. Everything else goes."

I started laughing, and he joined in. After we had both calmed down, I spoke again. "You know why I love your book?" I asked him.

"Why?" he countered, and I could see the true interest in his eyes. He really wanted to know my opinion.

"It doesn't remind me of anything," I said, looking admiringly down at the book that was now back in my hands. "It's not a rip-off, it's just-" I looked up at him as I finished what I was saying. "you."

"High praise, Miss Yale Editor," he said to me with a smirk, a glint of happiness in his eyes.

"Yeah, well, I don't get to write as much as I would like," I said as I blushed, embarrassed by his compliment. "I'm mostly assigning and motivating, hand-holding and re-writing."

"Yeah, and you love it. Every minute of it. Come on, tell me you don't," he threatened playfully. He knew me so well.

"I do. I do love it," I said, caving. "It's exciting," I said, smiling slightly.

"You look happier than when I saw you last," he said carefully. This was a touchy subject. For both of us.

"I am," I replied, feeling my grin widening.

"So… you fixed everything?" he asked, still cautious.

My plan came back to me in one big surge of recollection. The reason I was here. The reason I had come to see him. It was funny how I had forgotten about it as soon as I saw him. It was true that I was happier than when we last saw each other. I was on good terms with my mother again, out of my grandparents' house, and back at Yale, now editor of the Daily News. So happier? Yes. Actually _happy_? No.

There was still something missing, and I knew what it was. Which brought me to his next question: is everything fixed? Family: fixed. Living situation: fixed. School: fixed. Sanity: fixed. But there was one thing that still had to be fixed. _It's not fixed yet,_ I thought. _but it's about to be._

But why was I doing this? How could I do this to him? Jess had been nothing but nice to me lately, and after all that we'd been through and adding up the scores, it was him who had no right to be treated this way. Why was I doing this to him?

"_Oh, there's always Logan," the bridesmaid named Alexandra said. I glanced up from the magazine I was reading, surprised._

"_Been there, done that!" exclaimed the one named Walker._

"_Shush!" Gwen warned them._

"_What shush? You should talk!" Walker retorted._

"_Rory is Logan's girlfriend!" Gwen informed them._

"_Oops! Oh my God, You're Rory - Rory! I'm so retarded. Don't worry, this was way before you guys started dating. This was back around Thanksgiving." Walker said, attempting to reassure me. Apparently she didn't know that we were separated around Thanksgiving._

"_Last Thanksgiving?" I ask, trying not to jump to conclusions._

"_It meant nothing. Believe me. Meaningless," she attempted once again at reassuring me._

"_Walker will have sex with anyone," commented Megan._

"_I will."_

"_And I'm sure you know Logan and I dated, but that was ages ago," Gwen informed me. "Eons, back when he drove a Z3. And then we had a stupid one-night stand around December, but there is nothing between us, I swear. We're just friends who drank too much spiked eggnog and now he's met you and I think you guys are so great together, really."_

"_Thanks." Weren't we still separated in December, too?_

"_I'm sorry." Alexandra directed at Walker. "I didn't know that you slept with Logan. I thought you two just messed around."_

"_No, you said you just messed around with him," Walker confirmed. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I said that he and I hooked up, I meant hooked up - hooked up."_

"_I thought you just meant hooked up like messed around," Alexandra told her._

"_How come you never told me you messed around with Logan? Why am I not in the loop?" Megan asked, annoyed that the secret had been kept from her. If it could even be considered a secret, seeing as they were yelling it across the room._

"_Did you hook up with Logan around Thanksgiving?" I asked Megan, thinking that this couldn't be right. This couldn't be true._

"_No way," she told me, taking another sip of champagne before she continued. "I was in Biarritz."_

I remembered then that I wasn't doing this to_ Jess_. I was doing this to_ Logan_. And I couldn't back down. It was over with me and Logan, and I knew it. I think he did, too. But I couldn't live with it until he felt the pain that I did. And sure, this wasn't sleeping with five guys, but Jess was the one guy that Logan couldn't stand. The one guy he was jealous of. The one he hated.

I took a deep breath and answered him. "Yeah. Everything's fixed." I felt a pang of guilt radiating from my chest. I hated doing this to Jess. He didn't deserve this. But this life was torture, and this was all I could think of to solve the problem.

Jess looked down, smiling to himself, and then looked into my eyes. "I'm glad you're here."

"Yeah, me too."

He leaned in slowly, prolonging the moment, and kissed me tenderly. All the breath rushed out of me and I couldn't think clearly. I didn't know what I was doing. How did this happen? This was what I had come here for, but I hadn't expected to feel… _this_. I wasn't quite sure what it was exactly, all I knew was that it felt… _right_. Something I hadn't felt in a long time.

I was overcome with feelings that had nothing to do with the anger or guilt or revenge I had been feeling moments before. All thoughts of Logan and why I had come here melted away. There was only one thought left in my head: _I'm kissing Jess._

_I'm kissing Jess. I'm kissing Jess. I'm kissing Jess…_ It repeated itself over and over again in my head, a thousand times a second.

A few seconds later, he moved to pull me closer, to deepen the kiss, and I didn't hesitate. I moved towards him slowly, leaning against him as we moved to stand up. We never broke contact as he placed his hands on my waist and we made our way up the stairs to his apartment.

Once inside, we made our way to his bedroom slowly, still not breaking contact. We managed to make it to the door, and as soon as we were inside, he pressed me against it, closing it in the same motion. We broke the kiss for a moment, and looked into each other's eyes. We were both breathing heavily, and a smirk sprung up on my face. He gave a little chuckle and fixed his expression to match mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waste, watching each other. He kissed me forcefully, a mix of passion and desire, and led me farther into his room.

* * *

**A/N: Well, now you know where she went... and what happened there... But remember, what happens in Philly, stays in Philly... or does it? Anyway, from now on, unless I find something that actually happens to work with my storyline, what happened in the show will be different from my story. Obviously, cuz you know... she slept with Jess. I'm hoping you figured that out already... if not, you might want to get your deductive skills tested. Just a suggestion.**

**PS: I'm still not sure how often I'll be updating for the length of this story, but I have a snow day again tomorrow and both friday and monday off, so I'm going to try extremely hard to publish a chapter a day until I have to go back to school. If it doesn't happen though, don't be too disappointed, I'm probably suffering from writer's slow ;) But i'll try to find myself some inspiration.**

**PSS: So, my friend still keeps telling me that reviews are important. I have to say that it made me feel pretty great each time I got an email saying someone reviewed. I felt down right happy. Is the happiness of the writer important? Most say so, because they find that it's important to the writer's writing, and the writing is important to updating. So in conclusion, boys and girls: reviews are important to the writer's happiness, the writer's happiness is important to their writing, and their writing is important to updating. So, are reviews important to updating?  
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	3. Falling Into Place

**A/N: Hey, it's me again. Wow, I just keep turning up like a bad penny, don't I? Oh well, deal with it; I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Anyway, I have been working on this chapter for a couple days now, and I finally just hunkered down in my room and wouldn't let myself out until I finished; so naturally, it's 5:30 in the morning. Sorry it took so long to update, I had an extreme case of writer's slow. I ended up rewriting each part of this story at least two times, if not three or four. I just couldn't decide which way to go. I guess that's the price you pay for being a creative writer. If only they allowed those "choose your own destiny" kind of stories on here; I'd be home free. Anyway, back to the point. This chapter is done now and guess what! It's just as long as the first one! I guess I got a little carried away again... oh well, nothing wrong with detail. Well, here it is, and my apologies if it sucks. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: A pink wallet, black pumps, a dark blue Aéropostale bag, Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots... Damn, still nothing from the show. I'll keep looking.**

**PS: Thanks to gleekfreak and Maggie for reviewing. that's pretty awesome.**

**PSS: Long A/N's are my life. Get used to it.  
**

* * *

I was lying next to him, snuggling into the side of his bare chest, and I thought nothing could be as perfect as this. Well, earlier was pretty damn perfect, too, but you know what I mean. I had been wishing for this since we were seventeen, and I only let myself think about it at that moment. I realized then that I had been waiting for Jess all these years, and waiting for that moment: the moment that Jess would hold me close and never let me go.

Everything was finally falling into place. We were both ready for this, both on the same page, and I was still shocked that this was really happening. I burrowed my face into his skin and kissed his shoulder, and he held me tighter to him. We weren't talking, but it wasn't necessary. We were holding onto each other, never wanting to break apart. We were just reveling in the moment… this perfect moment.

After a while, he looked down at me and I smiled back at him, all awkwardness and embarrassment gone from earlier. Despite us both wanting this, it was still us, me and him, and that was a little uncomfortable at first. However, we quickly got over that as he laid me down on the bed and began kissing my neck feverishly, generating a moan of hunger and desire from the core of my body. Now, we were just laying there, him holding me to his chest while I played with his hair. I was still stunned. I couldn't believe we were doing this. _Finally_ I thought.

I went through the events of the night, chronicling them in my mind so as not to forget a single thing that happened. Seeing Luke and April, looking through the rows of books, Matt and Chris arguing about the bar, talking with Jess about his book… _wait._

"Are they here?" I asked Jess as I sat up abruptly, looking at him with scared eyes.

"Who's here?" he countered, seeming confused by my sudden outburst.

"I don't know, you tell me," I snapped at him, slightly angry.

"Woah, calm down," he said, rubbing my bare lower back soothingly, "No one's here. It's just you and me."

"What about Matt and Chris?" I asked him, my anger morphing into panic.

"They're not here. They went to the bar that we're not calling Cedar Bar Redux," he explained to me, a small smile on his lips.

"Were they here for… anything?" I asked, hoping he would know what I was insinuating.

"Nope. They left before we even came up here. We were the last two in the place when… _this_ happened," he told me, a full blown grin on his face.

"So no Matt and Chris?" I asked, trying to clarify everything and calm my heart rate.

"No Matt and Chris," he reassured me.

"And no one else either?"

He sat up and wrapped his arms around my waste from behind me. He kissed my shoulder blade a few times and smiled before resting his head on my shoulder and answering me. "The only reason I could think for someone to be up here is if this one customer lost his glasses again and came upstairs to look for them. It happens every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday… wait, isn't today Wednesday?"

"Jess!" I exclaimed, lightly slapping his chest.

"I'm just kidding! Breathe. No one else is here," he assured me.

"No one else?" I questioned, trying once again to confirm our surroundings.

"No one else is here. It's just you and me," he reiterated, and we both smiled at that last part.

He kissed me tenderly, and I ran my tongue across his bottom lip, requesting permission for entrance. We lied back down on the bed, continuing to kiss each other lovingly, embracing the moment, until we fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up somewhere around eight in the morning, the sun shimmering lightly through the thin curtains that were veiling the window, making the room seem like it was sparkling. Jess was still, breathing steadily, so I assumed he was still sleeping. I shifted a little and closed my eyes again, thinking about how perfect last night was. Even after having the whole night to get used to it, I still hadn't fully grasped the concept. _Me and Jess. After all these years. Together._ It was unbelievable, yet I couldn't imagine it being any different.

After a few minutes of reveling in my contentedness, reality set in. I had to think about what I was going to do next. I had to think of a way to tell Jess about my current situation with Logan. But how could I do that without him thinking that I used him? True, it had been my original intent, but as soon as we'd kissed, that had nothing to do with what followed. Now all I had to do was convince him of it.

I thought about what to tell him for a while before settling on the truth; well, most of it, anyhow. I would tell him what happened between me and Logan, but I would tell him I had come to see him so I could be with him. And in hindsight, it was the honest truth. I was sick of Logan, his slacking and his attitude, and I ran to Jess because I knew that he would be the one person that would tell me how he really felt about Logan, about me, and about everything that had happened. Jess didn't sugarcoat things, and that was the thing I loved most about him.

Now that I had sorted out all the crazy gibberish that was running through my head, I could focus on the here and now, the instant in time that I was living in, the one that I never wanted to end. I took a deep breath, drowning in the smell of his skin; it was unlike anything else, borderline otherworldly. It was a strange mix of cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, ink, and leather. There was also a trace of cigarette smoke; it didn't matter that he had quit years ago, he would always have it mixed into his scent. It was so enticing that it nearly made my mouth water. I settled even closer into him, if that was possible, and kissed his chest softly. I wanted him to be able to be stuck in this perfect moment with me, and my wish came true when he began to stir, opening his eyes.

"Morning," I said softly, kissing him lightly.

"Morning," he repeated, returning my kiss with another. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fantastically," I answered, I smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"I'm glad," he commented, giving me a small smile.

"So am I."

We laid there in the silence for what seemed like an infinite moment until Jess spoke up.

"Coffee?" he asked, kissing the spot just above my cleavage before moving to get out of bed.

"If you don't mind," I said, smiling as I watched him pull on a clean pair of boxers. He gave me a lingering kiss before exiting the room, leaving the door open slightly.

I let out a soft groan of frustration. _Fine. Two can play at that game._ I grabbed some clothes from around the room and headed into the kitchen to wait for my coffee. I walked in the room only wearing his shirt and boxers from yesterday, but the shirt was long enough that the boxers didn't show. I watched his eyes pop out as he spotted me, and I gave him a teasing smile. I kissed him passionately before pulling away slowly, lingering on his lips for a second longer than necessary. I laughed as he stood there frozen, trying to take this all in.

"Uh, Jess?" I started, grinning. I was enjoying this. "The coffee?"

"Huh?" he asked. It was like he was in a daze.

"The coffee's gonna burn if you don't shut the pot off."

"Right," he stammered. He quickly turned around and shut it off, filling two mugs and bringing them back over to the counter.

"Thank you," I semi-whispered as I leaned across the counter and gave him I peck on the lips. He still seemed to be in his own little world. I tried to get him to snap out of it. "Jess, you okay?" No answer. "Jess? You're scaring me. What's wrong?" He had this look of shock on his face, and I thought for a second that he had changed his mind about all this. I was scared that this was all about to end, and I started to panic. "Jess, please say something. You're freaking me out here. If you thought it was a mistake… just tell me. Please. It's better than the silence. Just tell me."

"This is a dream," he whispered, looking into my eyes.

"What?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"This has to be a dream. You'd never really be here. We've never been in the right place at the right time. It has to be," he said sadly, and it nearly broke me to hear him say it. The longing and the pain in his voice was evident, and I wanted nothing more than to make him feel better. I walked over to him and wrapped his arms around my waste as I tried to look at him. I grabbed his chin so he would look me in the eye while I tried to convince him of this reality.

"This isn't a dream, Jess. This is all real. I'm here in your apartment in Philly, right above Truncheon Books. You had the open house last night, and I came to surprise you. I wanted to tell you how proud I was of you, of everything that you're doing with your life. I never gave up on you Jess. No matter where we were at in our lives, I always believed you could amount to something great, and you have. I'm tired of us hurting each other, and I'm tired of us running away. We're both in the right place at the right time. It's all finally falling into place." I was crying at this point, the truth of my words hitting close to home. Still, I managed to whisper the last statement through my tears. I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "I love you."

That seemed to snap him out of it a bit. "What did you say?"

I wiped my tears away and looked up at him again. "I said 'I love you', Jess. I don't think I've ever really loved someone else as much as this."

He lifted me off the floor, his arms still wrapped around my waste, and kissed me with full force. All the years of frustration from denying our feelings and each other were finally released in that kiss. When he set me down again, he pulled me to him as I cried into his chest. Everything was finally perfect. Everything was going to work out. It was going to be okay.

"I love you, Rory. You have no idea how much," he whispered into my hair, holding me tighter. Through my blurred vision, I could have sworn that I saw a few tears running down his face as well, and I couldn't believe it. Jess Mariano crying was a sight that I never thought I would see.

When I finally managed to stop my waterworks of happiness, Jess pulled back slightly and brushed a lock of my hair out of my face. He cupped my chin with one hand, holding it so I would look at him. "Did you want something to eat?" he asked, giving me the most genuine smile that I had ever seen him wear.

"Yes, please," I replied, before he kissed me and headed over to the fridge.

"I'll make more coffee, too. The first pot is probably cold by now."

"Thank you," I replied with a smile, even though he couldn't see it with his back turned to me.

He proceeded to make breakfast, blueberry pancakes with toast, bacon, and sausage. I smiled at this; I couldn't believe that he still remembered what I ate for breakfast. When it was done he shoveled it all onto two plates, balancing them in one hand while grasping two cups of steaming coffee in the other. He set the plates down expertly and then the coffee, not letting anything drop.

I smirked at him and commented on his expert waiting skills. "I see you haven't lost your touch."

"Yeah, well, it's not something that you can forget easily," he said, trying to brush of my compliment.

I just smiled at him and took a sip of coffee. Well, let me rephrase. I took a sip of the best coffee I had ever tasted in my entire life. And that included Luke's.

"Okay, what's going on here?" I asked him in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" he countered, obviously confused.

"What is up with this coffee?"

"Nothing that I'm aware of. Why, does it taste bad?"

"No. It doesn't taste bad. It tastes _good_. _Really_ good. Like World-Series-level good," I ranted, testing it again just to be sure my judgment wasn't off. It tasted better than the first sip. "It's even better than Luke's. I didn't think that was possible."

"It's just coffee, Rory. No need to have a freak out," he replied, but I could see the pleased grin on his face.

"Do you know who you're talking to? After all these years you should know that it's not 'just coffee' to me," I said with mock anger in my voice.

"You're right, my mistake. I apologize for my ignorance," he replied, a smirk on his face.

"Well, as long as you've learned your lesson," I remarked, a triumphant smile on my face. I took another sip of my liquid heaven, smiling in contentment, before starting on my breakfast. I took one bite, chewed it thoroughly, and swallowed. I put my fork down and looked up at Jess. After a moment, he realized that I had stopped eating, and looked back me quizzically.

"What's wrong now?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"This breakfast-" I began, but he suddenly cut me off.

"Yeah, what about it? It's blueberry pancakes, toast, bacon, and sausage, the same thing you eat every morning. Well, I assume it's the same thing you eat every morning. It's what you used to eat, and you're not big on change. But getting back to the point, what's wrong with my breakfast?"

"I don't know where to begin. It's… amazing. Absolutely incredible."

He smiled at my compliment, ducking his head as his face reddened in embarrassment, his face softening.

"I'm serious, Jess. This is incredible. Did you open a diner in Philly or something? Because you're a little too good at this for you to just be a 'natural'. I mean, the waiting skills, the food, _the coffee_. You have to be practicing or something."

He looked at me and smiled. "Caught me. You know that bar Matt wants to buy? Well, we're going to turn it into a 'Luke's 2.0'. We even hired an actor to play Luke for the grand opening," he explained with a laugh.

"Well I want in, Mister. You name the price, I'll front it."

"Thanks for the support."

We finished our breakfast in silence, just enjoying being in each other's company. We both knew what we would have to talk about afterwards. It was "the talk", the one where we had to discuss what this meant to us. Was it a one night stand, the beginning of a second chance, or fate waiting to happen? I wasn't worried about that though; I already knew what it was to me, and I was pretty sure I knew what it was to him, too. The only thing I was worried about was telling him that my things were still at Logan's apartment; I was still unsure about how he would react.

"You done?" he asked once he was finished, seeing that my plate was empty. I gave a nod of consent as he grabbed our plates and mugs and took them to the kitchen, placing them in the sink. When he came back over, he crouched down to be eye to eye with me while I was sitting and kissed me lightly. "Wanna go in my room to talk?" he asked me, and I nodded sheepishly. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up, leading me to his room.

Once we had passed through the doorway, he let go of my hand, closing the door softly as I continued towards the bed and sat down. He came over quietly and sat next to me, our knees touching, and took back my hand. We looked at each other, trying to gauge what the other was thinking and feeling. Jess was the one to speak first.

"I think we've made it pretty clear how we feel about each other," he began, starting of slowly. "But just to be clear, I'm going to tell you anyway." He took a deep breath before he continued. "My past hasn't been the greatest. I didn't have a sunshiny childhood, a wonderful education, and I certainly didn't have the perfect family." He paused looking up to see if I was going to interrupt him. He drew the conclusion that I wasn't, so he continued, focusing on my hand that he held in both of his. "My life started to turn around when I moved to Stars Hollow. It wasn't really my behavior that changed; it was more my view on the world. I had finally found the light in the darkness that was my life." At this, he looked up at me and smiled. "My life has been anything but perfect, Rory, but having you made it pretty damn close." He kissed my hand quickly before looking into my eyes and continuing. "This is it for me, Rory. You're it. There is no one else that I would rather be with, not now, not ever. This is it." With that he kissed me passionately but briefly, pulling back to take in my reaction. There were tears in my eyes nearly ready to fall. I was speechless. In all the times I had imagined this moment, the moment that Jess would fully express his feelings for me, I never once imagined it as perfect as that.

"I love you," I cried into his chest as he hugged me close.

"I love you, too," he replied, kissing the top of my head.

We sat there for a while, holding each other, until Jess spoke again.

"Can I ask you something?" he questioned carefully.

"Anything," I replied instantly.

"What made you come here? I mean, what changed from the last time I saw you?" he asked, and I could tell that he was truly puzzled because he never broke eye contact with me.

I sat up and scooted away from him slowly, trying to compose myself. This was my chance to explain everything, and I wasn't going to blow it. I took a deep breath and looked him square in the face.

"I'll tell you, but under the condition that you let me finish what I have to say before you speak, okay?"

"Of course," he said, rubbing my arm soothingly. He could tell this was going to be hard for me to explain.

"Me," I said simply. "I've changed. When you came to see me in Hartford, you opened my eyes. You made me realize what huge mistakes I had made. Quitting Yale, being in the DAR, living with my grandparents; you knew it wasn't me, and you knew it wasn't right, and you told me to my face. You didn't try to accept it or trick me or sugarcoat. You were just honest with me. It really woke me up." None of these things were what I had planned to say, but as I heard myself say them, I realized that every single thing I said was true. "I got my act together, got my life back on track. All because of you," I finished, kissing him forcefully. When I pulled away from the kiss, I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back at me and kissed me passionately.

_Okay, so that didn't go exactly as planned_ I thought to myself. I had been so wrapped up in the moment, trying to get everything out, that I hadn't been able to say what I was supposed to. Another plan came to me almost instantly, as if saying "hey, why didn't you try me first?". But I couldn't worry about that right now. Right now, I was enjoying time with the love of my life.

* * *

We were making out, for lack of better words, like that until it was close to eleven, and I pulled away.

"Can you make me some lunch? I'm starving."

He only groaned in response, trying to ignore me, going back in to kiss me again. I couldn't blame him; it had been getting pretty heated. After a few more enticing kisses, I pulled away to try again.

"Jess, please? All this physical activity has me famished. You know us Gilmores: we don't exercise. It's against our 'rules to live by' code. And although this is an exception to said rules, the result is much the same." I could see in his eyes that he was on the fence, trying to decide between what I wanted and what he wanted. "Please Jess?" I asked again, putting on my best Gilmore pout. No one could resist the pout; it was a scientific fact.

"Fine," he groaned, kissing me before getting out of bed. When he got to the doorway, he turned around with a confused look on his face. "You coming?"

I smirked mischievously, and answered in a somewhat seductive tone. "I was thinking we'd just have lunch in here," I responded suggestively, slowly pulling up the hem of the shirt I was wearing to the top of my thigh. He smiled widely and headed quickly towards the kitchen, figuring that the sooner he got there, the sooner he'd get back.

I continued to stare admiringly at the spot where he had just been for a moment before snapping out of the trance I was in; well, if you could call happiness a trance. I leaned over the side of the bed, reaching for my phone, which was lying on the side table. I quickly picked it up and scrolled through the numbers until I found the one I was looking for. I pressed the call button and waited for the person I was calling to pick up. There was no chance that she was still sleeping, I was sure of that. After all, she got more done before nine than other people did all day.

"Hello?" Paris answered harshly, although that wasn't because it was me calling. That was just Paris.

"Hey Paris. Can we talk for a sec? It's kind of important," I asked nervously. There was some noise on the line before it got quiet and Paris answered me.

"Okay, I'm good now. What's wrong?" Paris asked impatiently.

"Nothing's _wrong_. I just have a favor to ask. Well, a question, really." I was beating around the bush, and I didn't have time for that; Jess would be back with breakfast soon.

"Go ahead. Shoot."

"Umm," I stammered, not exactly sure how to ask without drawing suspicion. "I was wondering if you and Doyle still had a room available for me in your apartment. If the offer still stands, that is."

"Yeah, of course. We didn't rent it out to anyone else, so it's still empty. Why, trouble in paradise? Pretty boy finally go too far?" Paris asked, intrigued.

"I can't get into it now, Paris. Long story short, I'm not with Logan anymore. I'll give you the details when I get back to Yale. So, will you take me?"

"Of course. It's all yours. When do you think you'll be back?"

"Sunday at the latest. I still have to get all my stuff from his apartment," I replied, relief washing over me.

"Okay. Let me know when you get close by. I'll come by and help you move it all over."

"Thanks Paris."

"Rory?" I heard Paris call before I hung up the phone.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Paris asked, concern evident in her voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm safe, Paris… and I'm in Philadelphia."

"Are you there because of 'him'?" she asked cautiously, her voice almost a whisper. I had a feeling that she wasn't referring to Logan, and I sighed. Nothing got by Paris.

"I promise I'll explain it all when I get back. I gotta go Paris. Thanks again," I said, hanging up on her and closing my phone. I placed it back on the side table and lied back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling and waiting for Jess' return. All I had to do now was move out of Logan's, and then everything would be fine. At least, I hoped it would be.

* * *

**A/N: So now that Rory has her plan B, everything is just peachy, right? Maybe... maybe not. Her and Jess are all lovey-dovey, and their finally together. If only they had done that on the show, right? Well, that's okay; it gives us Lit writers something to do :)**

**PS: I'm officially on vacation (if that's what you can call it)! Anyway, sorry again for the late update, but I wouldn't count on me keeping a schedule; I can barely finish my homework in time for class. It's not that I'm lazy; it's just extremely boring. Anyway for now I'm going to update as soon as I possibly can, but don't be surprised if it takes a while. You've been warned.**

**PSS: Rumor on the street is that reviews are still important. You would think that fact would have changed by now, seeing as we're living in an evolving society, but nope, they still hold the same importance. Oh, if only...  
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	4. A Rude Awakening

**A/N: I'm back! You probably thought I fell into a ditch somewhere, right? No worries, I'm alive and well. My absence is my fault, and my fault alone. I've had over half of this chapter written since the day after I published the last one. Then I went back to school, homework and grades piled up, friends got confusing, my world got complicated, i got busy, and life just got in the way. I was seriously lacking both time and drive to write this fic. I hate to put out work that isn't my best, so I just haven't put anything up at all. Plus, it didn't help to have a plan when I started this fic that suddenly changed slightly as I was writing. Turns out that in my long absence of writing this fic, my characters developed minds of their own, and now they're telling me what is going to happen, or at the very least how it's going to play out. That threw me for a loop. Anyway, there's more about that at the bottom of this. This is just as long as the previous chapters, so I'm beginning to think that they will all turn out this way. Here it is, and sorry again for the incredibly long wait. My apologies if it sucks.**

**Disclaimer: a 3rdG32GB iTouch, five MCHS uniform polos, the Gilmore Girls Complete Series Box Set (yeah, be jealous), a light bright cube... and STILL nothing from the show. maybe for Easter...**

**PS: Thanks to Yellow Words, midnight-gypsy, anonymous reviewer (although it's actually gleekfreak55565 because she reviewed it on her ipod), and Jeremy Shane for reviewing. That's pretty awesome.**

**PSS: Long A/Ns are my world. They brighten my day and let me be me. I feel sad for you if you don't feel the same way :(**

* * *

The past twenty-four hours had been emotionally exhausting. So much had changed in so little time that it was hard to keep up. Jess and I had finally come to terms with the fact that this was really happening. Both of us were really in Philly. Together. It still seemed too good to be true, something larger than life, but we weren't going to let this too-fairytale-like reality convince us that this wasn't right. We both knew that this was going to work, that this was how it was supposed to be.

After we had lunch and some "alone time", we had both passed out, too exhausted by the events of the day. We didn't have enough energy to do much else than just lying in bed, holding each other closely, and that was the exact position we were in when Matt and Chris came barging in to Jess' room.

"Hey Mariano, you-" Matt called loudly as he opened the door, but he cut himself off as soon as his eyes landed on us, his face veiled in shock. "-busy?" he said, finishing his question as his expression quickly changed to one of smugness, a smile spreading on his face.

Matt's loud outburst had startled us awake. At first Jess and I weren't really sure what was going on, sleep still clouding our brains. As soon as we realized what was happening, Jess settled on angry while I cried out in surprise, trying to cover myself as much as possible. Let's just say we weren't quite… _decent_ at the moment.

"What the-" Jess started, too angry to even finish his thought.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Matt questioned smugly, his smile morphing into a smirk.

Jess was able to complete a full thought this time. You could almost sense the anger boiling in his blood. "What the hell, Matt? Didn't anyone ever teach you how to knock?"

Before Matt could respond, I could hear Chris call to Matt from the kitchen. "Hey, what's going on?" Chris then proceeded to walk towards where we all were and froze in the doorway when he spotted us. "Oooo!" he commented, as if he were a five year old catching his brother doing something wrong. As far as Chris was concerned, that's probably exactly what it was.

"Looks like Jess has got some explaining to do," Matt remarked, a mischievous look on his face. "How ya doing, Rory?" he directed at me.

"I'm fine, thank you," I replied sheepishly, my cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"You two get out, now!" Jess was still furious. I was surprised that he hadn't already lunged at them from across the room.

"That's twenty, Man," Matt directed at Chris. "Pay up."

"We don't even know what happened yet!"

"Dude, does it _look_ like she was just crashing for the night? Nuh-uh, we know what went down. Now pay up."

"Are you two _serious_?" Jess raged, getting out of bed and heading towards them. At some point in time, he had apparently pulled on a pair of boxer shorts without my knowing. When he had reached them, he called an "I'll be back" over his shoulder as he pushed them through the doorway and into the kitchen. He closed the door behind them, but I could still hear them conversing in the next room.

"Dude, I am not paying you until we know what happened for sure. For all we know this could have been completely innocent," Chris told Matt defiantly, set on his decision to wait for more information.

"Innocent my ass! They were completely nude! But fine, whatever. So Jess, care to settle this for us so I can go buy myself a late lunch?"

"How about we start with _what the hell is wrong with you two_?" Jess yelled. I heard two simultaneous _thwack_s and a chorus of "Ow!" from Matt and Chris, which led me to believe that Jess had rightfully slapped them both upside the head.

"Jesus, calm down. We didn't _mean_ to interrupt anything. We figured you'd be done by now," Matt said with a snicker, Chris joining in a moment later.

I heard two more _thwack_s and another chorus of "Ow!", and I chuckled softly.

"Dude! What was that for?" they said together, false confusion in their voices.

"That was for being idiots! What is wrong with you guys? Can you please fill me in? We're you dropped on your heads as children? Maybe flung out a window? Because I'm really failing to see another reason for the lack of IQ points and common knowledge other than you two just being stupid!" Jess raged.

"Jess man, chill out! We already said we were sorry. We honestly didn't mean to barge in on you and your girl in there," Matt apologized sincerely.

"Rory," Jess snapped. "Her name is _Rory_."

"Dude, we know what her name is," Chris replied matter-of-factly, still trying to calm him down.

That threw Jess for a loop. "How do you guys know what her name is?"

"Well, we _did_ hang out with her for most of the night yesterday. Despite the fact that she looks a little… 'different' at the moment, we still recognize her," Matt said delicately, trying to explain without getting Jess upset again.

"Right. Forgot about that."

"Listen man, we really are sorry. Let us make it up to you. All four of us can go out to dinner tonight, our treat. That way we can get to know her a little better," Matt insisted.

"Yeah, tonight we'll go to the place we're not calling Cedar Bar Redux, and there will be no arguing, we swear," Chris promised sincerely.

"That actually doesn't sound too bad. I do want you guys to get to know her. She's kind of important to me, and she'll be sticking around for as long as humanly possible if I can help it. But I swear, if you guys do anything to scare her off, you are dead, you hear me? I've been waiting for this for _years_, and I'm not going to let you two ruin it. I love her, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I get to keep her. And if that means throwing you two out on your asses, so be it," Jess threatened, and I could feel the happy tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"So does that mean that you guys are really together? Like all-in together?" Matt asked, and I could hear the hope in his voice.

"Yeah. We're all in," Jess confirmed, and I could picture the smile on his face as he said it.

"That's great man. And we won't scare her off, we promise. We're really happy for you. You've been down about her for way too long. It's about time you two got it to work," Chris said, confessing his real concern for his friend.

"Look, we're gonna go apologize to your lady – sorry, _Rory_," Matt said, catching himself before he could anger Jess again. "–and then we've got some things to take care of before dinner tonight, so we'll get out of your way."

I heard their footsteps getting closer before Jess stopped them in their tracks. "Oh no you don't. You guys have done enough for the time being, thank you very much. No need for Dumb and Dumber to make another appearance until dinner tonight. And before you ask, no, I don't know which one is which. You guys can decide that amongst yourselves."

"Come on Man, we just wanna apologize. I swear we'll go in, say sorry, and then get out of your hair until seven, okay? Please?" Chris pleaded.

Jess groaned, and I could tell that he just wanted them to disappear. "Fine. Go say you're sorry, _then leave_."

There were footsteps followed by a knock on the door, and after I pulled on a shirt and confirmed that it was all clear, the trio entered the bedroom with Jess leading the way.

"Hey there, Rory," Matt said, a smile on his face. "So listen, we're sorry about earlier-"

"Yeah, we didn't mean to barge in like that. We honestly had no idea what was up," interrupted Chris.

"It's okay guys. But for future references, can you guys try to knock? That way we can avoid any more… occurrences such as this," I said, smiling at them, my cheeks still slightly red from my earlier embarrassment.

"No problem. Oh, we were wondering if you and Jess wanted to go out to dinner with us tonight. We'll talk and drink and have an amazing time. That way maybe we can get to know you a little better," Matt proposed.

"Sounds great," I said, smiling wider.

"Awesome. So, we've got some things to do, but we'll be back around seven and then we'll head to dinner," Chris said as he and Matt turned to make their way out of the bedroom. Before they had exited, however, Matt stopped in his tracks and turned back around.

"One question before we go, though," Matt said. When I gave him a nod to continue, the mischievous smile from earlier spread on his face once again. "Are you our new mommy?" he asked, and he and Chris burst into laughter.

"Okay, that's it! Out!" Jess shouted at them as he shoved them out his bedroom door, the two of them still laughing like hyenas. He slammed the door shut behind them, and from the other side we heard them say "sorry Daddy" in a singsong voice as they continued to laugh. As soon as we heard the door to the apartment close, Jess sunk down against the door until he was sitting on the floor "Gotta get my own damn place…" Jess mumbled, clearly irritated by his child-like roommates.

"They only tease you because they care," I comforted, a smile playing on my lips. I had to admit they were pretty entertaining. "Besides, they're gone now, and we won't see them again until seven. Hey, what time is it?"

Jess leaned to the side so he could see the digital clock on his nightstand. "Two-thirty."

"So, it'll probably take us about an hour to get ready for dinner. That leaves us three and a half hours to…" I said, trailing off in hopes that he would get where I was going with this. A grin spread on his face as he got up from the floor and made his way towards me on the bed, shedding his boxers in the process. I sunk down until I was lying flat on the bed, and he climbed over me, pressing against me lightly. We kissed, and I practically melted. I got so lost in the tingling sensation that I felt when he touched my skin that I could barely feel him on top of me.

We could have done this for eternity, the rest of our lives. Hell, we probably could have done this after we were dead too. But we only had three and a half hours for the time being, and right then, that was all the time we needed.

* * *

"Jess?"

"Mmm."

"Jess."

"_Mmm_."

"_Jess_," I said with more power pushing him away from me gently, but with enough force to get him to respond.

"Rory, I'm doing some of my best work here, and you're just talking right through it," he complained, and then went back to feverishly kissing my neck, like he thought that as soon as he stopped I would disappear.

I had to chuckle at that. A brief memory of us flashed in my head. Walking through the Stars Hollow town square, the world covered in white, and him kissing me like there was no tomorrow. He had said that exact same line back then, and I remember saying something about walking in front of a car. I had to wonder if his statement was on purpose or if that was just the old Jess showing through, making his presence known. Either way, I found it incredibly sweet and surprisingly nostalgic. _God, I really have missed him_.

"As much as I hate to say it, we have to get ready. Matt and Chris will be here in less than an hour, and we're cutting it close. We have to hurry if we want to be ready on time."

"I'm fine right where I'm at. Thanks for the offer, though."

"Jess, please?" I pleaded, giving him the patented Gilmore pout. "I only have this weekend with you for the time being, and I'd like to make it count. As much as I love just being here with you, doing this, I want to be able to go out with you. I want to have people see us together and to be able to show you off and for people to know that you're _mine_. I want it to be like it used to…" I trailed off as I finished, bowing my head and closing my eyes as my cheeks flamed with color.

Jess moved closer and held me to him, lifting my chin so I was looking him in the eye. "It's like you read my mind," he confessed with a small smile on his lips. I kissed him sweetly and chastely and clung to him for a moment before a pulled back slightly. He pecked me softly on the lips as he released me from his hold, whispering breathily, "You can shower first."

I smiled back at him and moved to look for some day clothes. I wasn't going to wear them to dinner, but I needed something to wear when I went outside to retrieve my things from my car. It was times like these that I was extremely grateful for my habit of planning for the unplanned, which was why I was able to retrieve a few outfits of various forms of dress code and an extra set of the makeup products that I use from my trunk.

Once I was back in the apartment, Jess gave me the instructions for how to work the shower and such, telling me to help myself to whatever was there. He then exited and left me to it, but not without first making the suggestion of joining me.

"I'm sure I can handle taking a shower by myself, but thanks for the offer," I had responded to his suggestion.

"Oh, I have no doubt. However, I figured that assistance would make the process go faster," he had reasoned, wrapping his arms around me from behind and kissing my exposed shoulder.

"If anything, that would slow down the process."

"Well, as long as you're sure," he said with mock concern.

"I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Alright, if you say so," he remarked as he finally left me in the bathroom.

As I stripped down, I thought about this situation. I was taking a shower at my boyfriend's apartment, where I was spending the weekend. _Boyfriend_. I had thought I would never be able to apply that word to Jess again, and yet, here we were. I was once again caught in disbelief, not because I felt like it wasn't real as I had earlier (by now it had sunk in, and trust me, it was _real_), but more like disbelief at how lucky I was for this to be happening. I guess one could call it fate, but I wasn't sure about being quite so optimistic.

I got in the shower, after turning the water on and to a tolerable temperature, and wet my hair. I reached for the closest bottle of shampoo, immediately squeezing a small amount into my palm. As I lathered it in my hair, I was engulfed in the smell of cinnamon and vanilla. _I smell like him_ I thought, smiling to myself as I continued to wash my hair with his shampoo.

After I had finished my shower, I came to a dilemma: what was I going to wear? I stared at the clothes I had with me for a good ten minutes before I groaned in frustration. I felt like I had been transported back to when I was sixteen, trying to figure out an outfit to wear for my and Dean's first date (despite my mother being there, I still considered it our first date). I tried to think back to how my mother had come up with an outfit in twenty seconds flat after I had spent twenty minutes trying to figure something out, and tried to put myself in her place. After a moment, I snatched a few different articles of clothing, the crisis averted. _Wow, she was right. Experience does help._

I pulled on the clothes I had pieced together, and applied my usual understated layer of makeup. I gathered up my other things, making sure everything was as I had found it, and exited the bathroom. I walked down the short hallway towards Jess' room, calling out his name. I found him lying on his bed, reading. I could see the spine of the obviously worn book, which read "The Adventures of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens", and I smiled as I had another flashback of us before life had gotten complicated.

_We were walking through the streets of Stars Hollow, talking about the dinner he had attended for a short time at my house before he had decided to bail._

"_What are you doing?" I asked with curiosity. He had taken out a coin and started playing with it, rolling it around his hand and through his fingers._

"_Oh, this?" he responded, still playing with the coin. "Nothing." After a few more turns of his hand, the coin had disappeared. He looked at me with a smirk on his face. It was something as new to me as he was, but something I was quickly growing used to. "Just another little disappearing act."_

"_Little tip?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_If you ever wanna speak to me again, don't pull that out of my ear," I said, trying to look serious despite the smile that was slowly spreading on my face._

"_So I assume the nose is off limits too?" He said with mock seriousness._

"_Anyplace you wouldn't naturally find a coin. Let's leave it that way."_

_There was a short pause in the conversation as we walked, before he spoke up again._

"_So what are you doing now?"_

"_I've got some homework to finish," I said, curious as to why he was asking, but managing to hide it well._

"_Okay, then I'll leave you this last little trick." From his pocket, he had pulled out the book _Howl_, one we had been discussing in my room when he came over for dinner._

"_You bought a copy? I told you I'd lend you mine," I responded, a little flustered that he didn't even want to borrow a book from me._

"_It is yours," he said matter-of-factly, trying to appease me._

"_You stole my book," I said accusingly._

"_Nope, borrowed it," he replied nonchalantly._

"_Okay, that's not called a trick. That's called a felony."_

"_Well I just wanted to put some notes in the margins for you."_

"_What?" I asked, confused. I took the book from his hands and flipped through the pages, glancing at some of the notes in pencil in the margins, admiring his small neat script momentarily. I looked back up at him, incredulous. "You've read this before."_

"_About forty times."_

"_I thought you said you didn't read much?" I accused playfully._

"_Well, what is much?" he remarked. He stepped back and smirked at me, turning to walk off. "Goodnight, Rory."_

"_Goodnight, Dodger," I called out to him before looking back down to continue reading some of his notes._

"_Dodger?" he questioned, turning back around to give me a puzzled look._

"_Figure it out," I said as I smiled at him and began to walk off. I had only taken a couple steps before he called out his answer to me._

"_Oliver Twist."_

"Jess?" I said quietly, still caught up in the memory of so long ago. He finally heard me and looked up. A smile grew on his face as he closed his book, placing it on the nightstand and got off the bed. He walked towards me, placing his hands on my hips as he looked me in the eye.

"You look _amazing_," he said, smirking before he leaned in to kiss me gently. He pulled back after a few seconds, only to rest his forehead against mine. "How did we get here?" he asked me, a look of pure awe and happiness on his face. Although the question was rhetorical, I felt the need to answer it anyway.

"I have no idea," I answered, a small smile playing on my lips. "But I'm not going to question it. I'm just gonna be happy that we're finally here."

He smiled a genuine smile, something I was still getting used to coming from him, before he gave me a chaste kiss. He released his hold on me reluctantly, and I smiled widely as I watched him grab his stuff and head into the bathroom.

* * *

Chris, Matt, Jess, and I walked through the doors of the famous "Cedar Redux Void of Original Ideas Poser Bar", or as they had referred to it since I had made the suggestion of the title the night before.

"After you, my good lady," Matt said with a fake accent that vaguely resembled the one the work staff had used at the Bracebridge Dinner that the Independence had held many years ago. He had bowed fully, waving his hand in a circle before him in a completely ridiculous gesture that I found absolutely hilarious.

"Yes, 'tis only the proper way, for a young lady to enter before any man, even more so if one holds beauty as remarkable as yours," Chris had said, mimicking Matt's gesture.

"Thank you, kind sirs. Your manners are quite flattering, not only to I, but to any woman to have the pleasure of encountering you," I replied to their little show, curtseying despite not actually wearing something I could curtsey in. What can I say, I always was into Shakespeare. Even if I wasn't, I couldn't forget a thing about him after that monster of a test I had crammed for in Mr. Medina's class.

I could tell Matt was about to respond to my comment when Jess glared at them. "One more word, and I swear… Do you _want_ me to hit you two again? 'Cause I will. I don't care that we're in public," Jess said seriously, an almost deadly look on his face.

"Abuse!" Chris cried half-heartedly so as not to draw too much attention to ourselves. Jess just rolled his eyes and led us through the maze of tables. As Matt and Chris walked forward to head towards a row of booths, he came through on his promise.

"Ow!" they exclaimed, and I once again couldn't contain my laughter. I swear, it was like watching The Three Stooges, except Matt and Chris never made a move to even touch Jess, which was probably wise on their part.

"Dude, seriously?" Matt questioned with incredulity in his voice.

"You asked for it."

"Ugh, fine. Can we just stop with the assault and sit down so we can get to know our new mother?"

"Matt-" Jess started in a warning tone.

"Sorry, I really wasn't trying to that time. I'll attempt to tone it down a bit," he said, and I was surprised at his seriousness.

"Try a lot."

"Will do," Matt said with a smile. "Shall we?"

* * *

**A/N: So Rory and Jess are together- like, together-together. Who would've seen that coming? I love Matt and Chris with a burning passion, and I wish we saw more than three minutes of them on the show. Oh well, it gives me something to do with them, and I don't have to be concerned about if I'm getting their characters right or not, because we never really got to know them. I like them better this way anyways, don't you agree?**

**PS: Originally, I wanted to include dinner in this chapter, or if not dinner completely written out, an overview of how it went and such, leading to the end of the night and what I wanted to be the end of this chapter. Apparently, I was too hopeful. Turns out there was a lot that needed to be said, more than I had originally thought or planned. Plus, as I wrote what I originally wanted for the dinner, Matt and Chris decided to introduce me to someone that had a mind of their own, and decided to be a part of my story, thus making this chapter WAY longer than I wanted it to be. Therefore, I decided to make dinner an actual written out thing (or as of this moment, it is), and that will be the next chapter. I'm still trying to get used to the whole "they're telling me what's going to happen not the other way around" sort of thing. Oh well, I think it's turning out better this way anyway.**

**PSS: I thought that by waiting over two months to publish fanfiction again, that that whole "reviews are important" thing would go away, but it's STILL THERE. I wish it would go away, it really makes me sad :( but, until I can figure out a way to wipe it off the face of this fanfiction planet, it looks like it's here to stay. So, reviews would be awesome, and would possibly even inspire me to come up with a way to deface their value...**


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